1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical contact, and more particularly to an electrical connector contact for electrically interconnecting two electrical interfaces such as contact pads of an integrated circuit (IC) package and a printed circuit board (PCB).
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are two current trends in the connector industry which pose great challenges for manufacturers: the trend toward miniaturization of socket connectors, and the trend toward increased density of arrays of electrical contacts of the socket connectors. In a typical miniaturized socket connector, each contact received in a housing of the connector is short and occupies only a limited space. Thus a spring arm of the contact is too short to provide good resilient characteristics. As a result, engagement between the connector and an associated electrical device may be unreliable.
In order to overcome the above problems, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,203,331 and 6,296,495 provide another kind of electrical connector. Referring to FIGS. 5, 6 and 7, the connector comprises a housing 8, and a plurality of electrical contacts 9 received in the housing 8. A plurality of contact-passages 81 is defined in the housing 8, the contact-passages 81 receiving the corresponding contacts 9 therein. Each contact 9 has an inverted xe2x80x9cUxe2x80x9d-shaped retention portion 91, and a xe2x80x9cUxe2x80x9d-shaped extending portion 92 extending slantingly down from the retention portion 91. A first mating portion 922 is formed at a bottommost portion of the extending portion 92. The first mating portion 922 extends outside the corresponding contact-passage 81, for engaging a corresponding contact pad 830 on a PCB 83. A second mating portion 921 is formed at a topmost portion of the extending portion 92. The second mating portion 921 extends outside the corresponding contact-passage 81, for engaging a corresponding contact pad 820 on an IC package 82. With this structure, the extending portion 92 is relatively long, and gives the contact 9 good resilient characteristics.
However, the elongate extending portion 92 increases a length of an electric path along an xe2x80x9cLxe2x80x9d-shaped portion of the contact 9 between the first and second mating portions 922, 921. Thus impedance of the contact 9 is increased. Further, the contacts 9 are densely arrayed in the housing 8. As a result, much heat is generated and concentrated in the connector during operation. The connector and the IC package 82 are liable to malfunction, and may even sustain damage.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide an improved electrical contact for a connector that overcomes the above-mentioned problems.
Accordingly, a main object of the present invention is to provide an electrical contact having both low impedance and good resilient characteristics.
To fulfill the above-mentioned object, an electrical contact is provided according to the present invention, for electrically interconnecting with two electrical interfaces. The contact comprises an xe2x80x9cHxe2x80x9d-shaped retention portion, a xe2x80x9cUxe2x80x9d-shaped extending portion extending slantingly down from one end of the retention, and a second engaging portion extending upwardly from an opposite end of the retention. First and second mating portions are formed at topmost and bottommost portions of the extending portion, for respectively engaging with the electrical interfaces.
With this structure, the extending portion of the contact is relatively long, and gives the contact good resilient characteristics. Additionally, a first engaging portion is formed on the extending portion, for engaging the second engaging portion. Thus two parallel electric paths are formed between the first and second mating portions when the contact electrically mats with the two electrical interfaces. As a result, impedance of the contact is decreased.